Vasily Sokolovsky

Vasily Sokolovsky (21 July 1897-10 May 1968) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union who commanded the Soviet Western Front of the Red Army during World War II. From June 1952 to April 1960, he was Chief of Staff of the Soviet Army, succeeding Sergei Shtemenko and preceding Matvei Zakharov.

Biography
Vasily Sokolovsky was born on 21 July 1897 in Kozliki, Grodno, Russian Empire (in present-day Bialystok County, Poland), the son of a teacher. He took part in student demonstrations against the czar before joining the Red Army in February 1918, and he was wounded near Samarkand while serving as chief-of-staff of a Turkmenistan-stationed division during the Russian Civil War in 1921. In December 1941, he became the chief of staff of the Soviet Western Front during Operation Barbarossa, and he coordinated the Soviet counterattacks against the Axis during the invasion of Russia. In February 1943, he became the commander of the Western Front, and he became chief-of-staff of the 1st Ukrainian Front in March 1944 when the Western Front was divided into smaller fronts. He served as deputy commander of the Soviet occupation forces in East Germany from May 1945 to 3 July 1946, when he was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union. From June 1952 to April 1960, he was Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, succeeding Sergei Shtemenko and preceding Matvei Zakharov, and he became Inspector-General for the Ministry of Defense in 1960. Sokolovsky died in office in 1968.